Uncensored thoughts on parenting & more

In an earlier post, I reviewed the new Mint Chocolate Vita Top from Vitalicious. The batch of Vita Tops I had received was so minty that I could hardly finish eating one.

Then, I received word that Vitalicious had trouble with some early batches that had too much mint flavor. I received a second order of Vita Tops, free of charge (which I thought was very classy), and these were indeed less minty.

While I do like the correctly made Chocolate Mint Vita Tops much better, and they are not “bad” by any means, they still are not my favorite. I think I would like them more if they had more gooey chips in them; they strike me as a little dry and not as indulgent as some of the other flavors.

For me, the best thing about Vita Tops is feeling like you are having a real, gooey treat (that is a good size) while only spending 1 Weight Watchers Point. This new flavor doesn’t quite fit the bill for me, though it might for some people who are dyed-in-the-wool mint fans.

Those of you who follow Hungry Girl are probably aware that Vitalicious recently launched a new Hungry-Girl-developed flavor for the VitaTop — Chocolate Mint.

Normally I am a fan of all things chocolate and mint, but I have to report that I do not like this flavor of VitaTop. I believe that mint extract is used to give the muffin its mint flavor, and it is a very strong flavor. It reminds me of the time I tried to use peppermint extract to flavor my hot chocolate, but I wasn’t careful and ended up using way too much.

My hot chocolate ended up being un-drinkable, just like the Chocolate Mint Vita-Top is, for me, almost un-eatable.

**UPDATE** I did indeed hear back from Vitalicious. They offered a choice between a refund and a complimentary batch of the new, less mint-y VitaTops. I chose the VitaTops. I will provide an update once I receive them.

My official loss to date is 22 lbs. I haven’t decided on a target weight yet, but I do know I need to lose at least 10 more lbs.

My loss has been quite gradual during the last month or two. It may have to do with my milk production (nursing), which is down from where it had been. I have toyed with the idea of moving my daily points target from 28 to something like 26 — just in my own mind, since I don’t think the eTools will let me tweak like that.

The main thing I have to struggle against is the desire to eat in order to deal with (or, rather, NOT deal with) feelings of stress, anxiety, boredom, and so on. On Saturday, I decided to go off plan, and I wasn’t even hungry at the time. I just WANTED that feeling of eating whatever I wanted, in whatever quantity I wanted. Sort of like a little vacation.

If there’s any silver lining to this cloud, it’s that I do this only once every few weeks or so, and I am back on plan the very next day. In the past when I’ve done WW, those bouts have lasted much longer than one day!

Yesterday I bought Hungry Girl’s 200 under 200 cookbook. I made the Big Bad Burger Wrap for dinner, and I was very pleased. And only 4 Points! My husband, who has started counting calories (go, hubby!!!!) also had one for dinner, and he liked it as well.

Of course, WW has plenty of its own cookbooks, and all (?) their recipes are online. There is just something about Hungry Girl that gets me motivated. Anyone else out there an HG fan?